Dr. Whitney Phillips

Whitney Phillips is an Assistant Professor of Literary Studies and Writing at Mercer University, and holds a PhD in English with a folklore structured emphasis (digital culture focus). She is the author of This is Why We Can't Have Nice Things: Mapping the Relationship between Online Trolling and Mainstream Culture, and the co-author of The Ambivalent Internet: Mischief, Oddity, and Antagonism Online with Ryan M. Milner. Across her books, numerous journal articles and book chapters, and popular press pieces in outlets like The New York Times, The Atlantic, andSlate, Dr. Phillips' work explores antagonism and identity-based harassment; the reciprocal relationship between public expression, corporate and state institutions, and technological affordances; political memes and other forms of ambivalent civic participation; and digital ethics, including journalistic ethics and the ethics of everyday social media use.